School Inspection in Canterbury and East Kent 1850-1870 and 1992-2000: A Comparative Study Patrick Michael Finucane A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor in Education (EdD) Institute of Education UDiversity of London November 2000 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 4 Abstract 5 Abbreviations 6 Chapter One INTRODUCTION 7 Aim of the Study 7 Value of the Research 9 Literature 11 Chapter Two EAST KENT: THE BACKGROUND 19 The Children and their Landscape 19 Child Labour 23 Chapter Three CHURCH, STATE and SCHOOL INSPECTION 27 Chapter Four POLICY IN TWO ERAS 35 Rationale for Reform 1850-1862 35 The Work ofthe Newcastle Commission 1858-61 and Current hra~h 38 Neo-Liberal Developments in the late Twentieth Century 44 Chapter Five CANTERBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION and SCHOOL INSPECTION 52 Establishing Diocesan School Inspection 52 The Diocesan Board and the Revised Code 1862 55 Schools and Inspection: Comparative Perspectives 59 Canterbury Diocesan Board and Ofsted 63 3 Chapter Six INSPECTION TODAY: THE OFSTED EXPERIENCE 68 Context of the Research Fieldwork in the Six Schools 68 The Interviews 70 Chapter Seven SOME RESPONSES TO INSPECTION IN TWO ERAS 86 Introduction 86 Responses by the National Society 88 Reactions to Ofsted, 1993 Onwards 94 Personalities and the Media 97 Chapter Eight IN CONCLUSION 102 The Interpretive Problem 102 Political and Economic Comparisons 103 Teachers 105 Inspectors 106 Epilogue 108 Maps and Appendices Appendix 1 - Map of Kent III Appendix 2 - The establishment of the Canterbury Diocesan Board of Education 1838 and extract from prospectus 1839 112 Appendix 3 - Letter from Revd. Benjamin Smith to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the effects of the Revised Code 116 Appendix 4 - HM Inspectors' reports on the Diocesan School, Canterbury 119 Appendix 5 - Research fieldwork questionnaire, Spring 2000 123 Bibliography 126 4 Acknowledgements Space does not permit me to personally thank all the people who have assisted in this research. Suffice it to say that I am extremely grateful to them all. I am especially grateful to Susan Williams, Richard Aldrich and Peter Earley of the Institute of Education for their wise council, support and encouragement throughout. My sincere thanks are also due to Rupert Bristow, Canterbury Diocesan Director of Education for his enthusiasm and for facilitating my interview visits to schools in his 'parish'. In this respect I am greatly indebted to the six headteachers who gave so generously their time and experience. Special thanks must be extended to my family for their infinite patience, and especially my son Tom for his help in word processing and presentation of this thesis. 5 Abstract The aim of this study is to compare critically the development, operation and impact of school inspection in two historical periods. The first period 1850 to 1870, following the introduction of formal state inspection of schools is contrasted with the introduction and operation of the Office for Standards in education (Ofsted) in the years 1992 to 2000. The study examines the introduction, processes and effects of inspection in a group of Church of England infant and primary schools in Canterbury and east Kent. Its wider context is the development and implementation of school inspection policy in two eras, separated by over 150 years, and its effects on teacher professionalism. Although a gulf of time stands between the two periods, it is believed that such a comparative perspective is both valid and meaningful for a number of reasons. Inspection is a dimension of effective government and public accountability. In both eras the involvement ofthe state and its role in securing improvements in the provision of publicly funded education has been linked to the national, economic and social well being of the state. The study has involved extensive archival and empirical research, including interviews with headteachers in east Kent to learn from their experience ofthe inspection process both before and after the introduction of Ofsted. Finally, the study has set out to show that the past is clearly relevant to today. It raises the question of whether educational change is cyclical, and not a process of permanent progress. Just as the Revised Code, introduced in 1862 was to last until 1895, and then in hindsight be widely regarded as 'unenlightened', is it today possible to predict a cyclical term for the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s? Will they too have a finite span? 6 Abbreviations CDBE Canterbury Diocesan Board of Education CE Church of England DES Department for Education and Science DFEE Department for Education and Employment HCSCE House of Commons Select Committee on Education HMI Her Majesty's Inspector HMIs Her Majesty's Inspectorate KCC Kent County Council LEA Local Education Authority NC Newcastle Commission NFER National Foundation for Educational Research Ofsted Office for Standards in Education Ofstin Office for Standards in Inspection RGI Ofsted Registered Inspector SATs Standard Assessment Tests 7 Chapter 1: Introduction Aim of the Study The purpose of this study is to compare critically the operation and impact of school inspection in two historical periods. The first period 1840 to 1870 following the introduction of formal state inspections is compared with the introduction and operation of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in the years 1992 to 2000. The study traces the introduction, processes and effects of inspection in a group of Church of England schools in Canterbury and east Kent, located in the south eastern corner of England. Its broader context is the development and implementation of school inspection policy in the two eras, and its effects on teacher professionalism. The concept of inspection is not confined to today's modern state, nor to its incipient predecessor in the nineteenth-century. Although the first national government inspection of schools by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools (HMI) began in 1839, school and institutional inspection long precedes this date. One definition which the Oxford English Dictionary offers for 'inspection' is that of 'careful examination or scrutiny'. Indeed, within the geographical area covered in this study, the grammar school established in Faversham in the sixteenth century was subject to inspection by its 1604 rules. Under these, pupils joining the school had to be examined in the presence of the mayor of the town, and their individual competence assessed in being able to show ''whether he can say or read the book of Psalms or not and whether such child can write a legible joined hand." I In the modern state, nearly 300 years later, official inspection is no less central in seeking to assure quality in education. Since the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 there has been a clearly defined school curriculum, and requirements for measurable learning 'targets' through Standard Assessment Tests (SATs), together with the introduction of four defined 'key stage' standards. Ofsted inspections, in their assessment ofa school's performance, take account of the SATs attainments of individual 8 pupils. Similarly, the Revised Code of 1862 established six standards for the assessment of reading, writing and arithmetic (and plain sewing for girls), which were examined and reported on by HMIs, and grant aid awarded on the basis of success in these examinations. 2 Although a gulf of time stands between the two eras, such a comparative perspective is both valid and meaningful for a number of reasons. Firstly, inspection is a dimension of effective government and public accountability, and in both eras the involvement of the state and its role in securing improvements in the provision of public education has been linked to the national economic and social well-being of the state. In the mid-nineteenth century the corporate state was developing effective administrative and inspection systems in order to regulate and monitor the increasing complexity and demands of society in a rapidly expanding population. So too, in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a dynamic of change at work, which led to substantial educational reform including the Education Reform Act 1988, the introduction of a National Curriculum, a diminished role for local education authorities (LEAs) and, in 1992, through the establishment of Ofsted, the creation of a new framework for the inspection of schools on a national basis. Next, in both periods the objective of securing the best use of public funding was central to the debate leading to policy change. In 1862 Robert Lowe, Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, referred to the Revised Code in terms of efficiency and cheapness. 3 In the public sector reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, a leitmotif throughout has been that of ensuring better value for money and more recently, under the Local Government Act 1999, the introduction of the concept of 'Best Value'. The study attempts to show how national policy was formulated in the two periods. Finally, there is the effect of inspection as a human activity. Inspection involves greater accountability, as well as elements of 'managerialism'. What have been the results of its operation and processes on the lives of people affected by it: pupils, teachers, managers, governors and inspectors themselves? Human judgement may well change over time and the basis for an Ofsted inspector's judgement is not likely to be similar to those of a Victorian school inspector. However human feelings and emotions, when a school or teacher is criticised or commended, are more constant over time. How 9 did these inspection processes change education, improve the curriculum, shape policy and affect the professional lives of teachers? The study is set in the context ofa group of Church of England schools in the east Kent district of the archdeaconry of Canterbury. It examines the role of the Canterbury Diocesan Board and its inspection arrangements for elementary education in the 1850s and 1860s, and its relationship with central government initiatives on inspection.